'Scary to us.' Should mainland towns get bigger say in Steamship Authority matters?

Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket officials soundly voiced their opposition last week to a proposed bill calling for more equitable mainland representation on the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority board’s decision-making.

Island officials wrote, in a series of letters to the Legislature, that the proposed measure, filed by Sen. Susan Moran, D-Falmouth, would reverse a voting structure that remains critical for ensuring the Islands’ continued economic stability and way of life.

Votes for the representatives of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket on the Steamship Authority board are presently weighted at 35% each, and Falmouth, New Bedford and Barnstable are weighted 10% each.

The bill would keep the weight of the votes the same but amend the Authority’s enabling act to require a vote by one or more of the mainland members if both islands vote the same way on any matter to provide more balanced and equitable representation on the Authority’s governing board.

Robert Ranney, board chair and representative from Nantucket, said the Steamship Authority provides the most important manner of transporting goods and services to and from the Islands.

“It is scary to us that another town could potentially do something to block or change or alter how we get literally everything to and from the island,” Ranney said, referring to mainland port towns such as Hyannis and Woods Hole.

Among the governing bodies and agencies that voiced their written opposition were the towns of Oak Bluffs, Dukes County, the Nantucket Select Board and Nantucket Memorial Airport.

Ranney compared the Steamship Authority services to the canal bridges, the sole source of vehicular transportation on and off the Cape.

“On the Cape, everything comes over the bridges, right?” he said. “So, if Bourne or Sagamore, or somebody near the bridges said, ‘Well, wait a minute, we need to curtail some of the stuff going over the bridge,’ I think the entire Cape would, you know, be upset about that.”

Tension between mainland Steamship Authority port towns and island needs

Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, who represents both Islands, said the bill represents a repeated effort seen over the years in an attempt to “dilute the islands’ control over the Steamship Authority.”

“There have been various attempts to change that system, and always have been unsuccessful,” Cyr said. “I expect this bill will result in a sort of similar outcome.”

Mainland supporters of the measure point to the adverse impacts the Steamship Authority’s presence brings to communities like Hyannis and Woods Hole, such as loud traffic noises and increased vehicular traffic in and around the impacted areas.

Cyr said there are also several economic benefits associated with Authority business in mainland port towns. Many businesses based on the mainland operate on and around the islands, he said, and employees use the ferries to commute back and forth for work.

In August, the Legislature raised the Authority’s bond borrowing limit by $50 million, bringing the previous limit of $100 million to $150 million. At the time, Cyr said the effort was to further support the Authority's purchase and conversion of vessels for ferry usage, electrify and construct the new Woods Hole terminal, among other projects.

The Legislature created the Steamship Authority in 1960 to provide adequate transportation of people, goods and services to and from the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

The Steamship Authority board has five members

The Authority's board is a governing body made up of five members from Falmouth, Barnstable, New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket — each individually appointed by their respective municipalities. They are separate from management and act as the officiator and arbiter of the Authority’s business, approving capital projects and authorizing the acquisition of new vessels to replace and add to the boat line's fleet.

Ranney said the board works together to solve issues affecting both the mainland and the islands.

“I don't really see a need for this (bill), because there hasn't been, as far as I know, a situation where the islands are just saying, ‘Hey, we're just gonna do whatever we want,’” Ranney said. “Everyone sort of works together collaboratively.”

Walker Armstrong reports on all things Cape and Islands, primarily focusing on courts, transportation and the Joint Base Cape Cod military base. Contact him at WArmstrong@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jd__walker.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Why Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket slammed this Steamship Authority bill